All Summer in a Day

Ray Bradbury

Context Questions
I. (i) The scientists were expected to know whether the sun would be visible that day. The children
were waiting for sun rise.

(ii) The characters are getting ready for one hours, when the sun would come out after seven years
of continuous rain.

(iii) In the story, Venus is depicted as a planet where it rains constantly, the sun remains hidden
behind the clouds and is seen only once in seven years.

(iv) The children are peering out for a look at the hidden sun. The children were nine years old. The
last time the sun came out they were two years old — very young to remember.

(v) Refer to the first two paragraphs of Story in Detail, Page 197.

II. (i) Refer to Setting Page 202.

(ii) Refer to Notes, Page 206.

(iii) The planet Venus is referred to as the “raining world”, because it rains there constantly, except
for two hours every seven years, when the sun comes out.

(iv) The incessant rain which is a part of their daily lives is finally stopping. It tells us that the
inhabitants of the planet Venus eagerly wait for the rain to stop so that they can bask in the
sunshine for two hours once in every seven years.

(v) Refer to All Summer In a Day as a sci-fi story, under Critical Appreciation, Page 206.

III. (i) The children in the story are nine years old. They could not recall the sun, as they would have
been only two years old the last time the sun came out seven years ago.

(ii) Margot. Refer to Margot, under Characterisation, Page 199.

(iii) Ray Bradbury makes use of metaphor to describe the rain. The droplets of rain endlessly falling
upon the roof are compared to clear beads of necklaces.

(iv) When it rains on Venus, it appears like a heavy storm. The scene is quite similar to that of tidal
waves coming over the islands. Moreover, the ceaseless and heavy rain on Venus results not only in
the crushing over of thousand forests but also in their regrowth.

(v) The dreams of the children dreaming of the sun. The non-stop rains and the sounds they made
caused the dreams of the sun to vanish. The children dream of sun, its warmth and its bright rays
falling on their face, body, arms and legs and trembling hands.

(i) The teacher was expected to hurry, because the rain was slackening and it was the day when sun
would come out and shine for two hours. So the children wanted their teacher to come in time so
that they don’t miss their limited time in the sun outside.
(ii) The incessant rain made its first impact on Margot’s physical appearance. It seemed as if the rains
had washed out the red colour from her face, the blue colour of her eyes and the golden colour of
her hair. She looked pale and sick. The rains affected her mentally as well. She felt lonely and never
mingled with other children.

(iii) Blue eyes are associated with beauty; red colour with energy and strength; and yellow with
sunshine and joy. As all of these are lost these colours are used to describe Margot. She has
whitened away to become a pale, morose and lonely child.

(iv) The outside world on the planet Venus where it rains non-stop. This world is loud, because the
sound of the rain falling can be heard all the time.

(v) “She was an old photograph”, “voice would be a ghost”. Here, Margot’s appearance and voice
has been described. After years of endless rain and devoid of sunlight she has become pale and
sickly.

V. (i) Since Margot had come to Venus only five years ago from Earth, she remembered the sun. She
remembered vividly the colour and heat of the sun, but others did not.

(ii) She describes sun — as a penny — like a fire in the stove — as a sunflower.

(iii) Refer to Margot, under Characterisation, Page 199.

(iv) It seemed that she was completely devastated by the relentless rains, so much so that she
dreaded taking a shower.

(v) Refer to Jealousy and Bullying, under Themes, Page 201.

VI. (i) One day, Margot had refused to take shower in the school shower rooms. She had covered her
ears and screamed that the water should not touch her.

(ii) The absence of sun on Venus had turned Margot pale and frail. Taking Margot back to Earth
would have cost thousands of dollars to her family, which was seen as a hindrance to this proposal.

(iii) * Margot neither played games nor sang songs of happiness with them.

*They felt hostility towards Margot for her experience on Earth with the sun that they longed for
and could not remember ever seeing it.

*There were rumours that Margot’s parents were planning to take her back to earth. This made her
classmates hate her even more.

(iv) Refer to Jealousy and Bullying, under Themes, Page201.

(v) Margot protested, pleaded and cried in front of them so that they would not to lock her up.
Once locked, she even tried to open the door by beating and throwing herself against it. She kept
crying inside the closet. She reacted this way because she did not want to miss the sun, its shine and
warmth.

Refer to Jealousy and Bullying, under Themes section, Page201.

VII. (i) The incessant rain finally stopped which resulted in silence all around. It was immense and
unbelievable because it was experienced only after waiting for seven years.
 (ii) The children were eagerly waiting for rain to stop and sun to come out. As soon as the rain
stopped, there was immense and unbelievable silence. The door was finally slide open and they
rushed out into the silent world of sunshine.

(iii) * The jungle continued to grow in all directions like “a nest of octopi” and it looked as if it
“burned with sunlight.”

*The sky for once was clear and filled with sunshine.

*Nature was filled with fresh air and silence.

(iv) Refer to the fourth paragraph under Story in Detail, Page 198.

(v) She was locked in the closet when the sun came out. William and other children told Margot that
the scientists were wrong in their predictions of when the sun would appear, which forced Margot
to panic. Her anxiety only increased as the children forcibly took her to a closet and locked her in.

Refer to IV (ii)

VIII (i) They were out in the open enjoying the sun shine. The girl cried in sadness as their limited
time to enjoy the sun and it warmth was over.

(ii) She showed to others in the centre of her cupped palm, a single raindrop. She trembled because
the thought of rain again made her anxious.

(iii) The weather changed all of a sudden. The sun faded wind started blowing, and there was
thunder and lighting it started raining hard.

(iv) The children felt sad and hopeless as they would have to wait for next seven years for sun to
appear again. Suddenly they remembered that they locked Margot in a closet before they went out
to enjoy in the sun.

(v) The children felt guilty of locking Margot inside the closet. After experiencing the warmth of the
sun, they realised that Margot was right. They felt guilty of what they had done to Margot. They
stood frozen and walked slowly towards the closet and let Margot out.